Keep Laughing
by FireyFreedom
Summary: New character, new issues, whats the deal with her secrets.  Once Renji hears her laugh, all he wants her to do is keep laughing.  IchixRukia, RenjixOC
1. Chapter 1

"Kelly, Time for breakfast!" In the attic of a nondescript white house in Arlington Texas, a girl rolled over out of bed. With a barely audible sigh she grabbed a shirt and put it on. Seeing as she slept in her jeans, there was no need to do anything else except slam her hair up into a ponytail before heading downstairs

"Hey, sleep well?" Kelly grunted noncommittally at the woman who'd asked the question. "Hey Kelly, what time do you need to be at the airport?" "In an hour" "You're packed?" "Please don't fuss over me Mom" the woman smiled slightly, not missing the slight hesitation from Kelly before she said Mom. "Hey Ren" Kelly said looking up as another girl walked into the kitchen. "Hey, so you leave today? For Japan, really Kelly you could always stay and let me hook you up with someone from America you know" the older girl teased Kelly, who grimaced, "No thanks, and I'm not looking to hook up with someone, I just wanted to explore some history and a different culture" "In other words you aren't going to tell us the real reason" Ren replied quietly. The family ate breakfast, and then the lady known as Mom drove Kelly to the airport. There Kelly boarded a plane to Japan, and settled down for a long flight.

"Freeloader, breakfast!" Jinta yelled, as Renji walked into the kitchen. "Good morning Abari-kun" the store owner greeted the red head cheerfully, "What's good about it?" Renji asked annoyed. After eating, Renji walked over to Ichigo's house out of boredom to see if Ichigo wanted to train. After the two hot heads had beaten each other to bits several times over, boredom started to set in. "I'm so fucking bored." Renji exclaimed and Ichigo nodded, then sighed, "What the hell, let's go walking around town, maybe something else will show up and try to kill us" Renji nodded, it couldn't hurt.

Kelly walked out of the airport blinking in the sun. It was mid afternoon and she had no where particular to be. Putting her messenger bag on, it being the only luggage she had, Kelly walked out of the airport and into the town. Deciding to explore before finding a place to stay Kelly walked off. As she turned a corner a few blocks away, her horrible luck decided to rear its ugly head, and Kelly tripped on a stone and went flying into a hard chest, the chest and its owner stumbled back and fell, the end result being Kelly on top of some random guy she'd just fell into. "Ow damn it" Kelly swore, as she picked herself up off the man. "What'd ya do that for?" the man demanded, and Kelly looked at him for the first time.

The guy had bright red hair and tattoos for eyebrows. "Sorry, I'm sure it's my fault that a rock decided to go for blood, I mean it's not like I could have I don't know killed it first" Kelly said letting her sarcasm through. "Renji are you okay?" a short black haired girl asked, and Kelly realized that there were other people around. One orange haired guy, the girl that had just spoken, another girl, and two other guys. "Sorry about that and about my sarcasm" Kelly said, and the man looked at her, "No problem, by the way, I'm Renji this is Ichigo, Rukia, Ishda, Chad and Orihime" Renji pointed everyone out. "Cool, I'm Kelly" "Hey, so where were you headed?" Ichigo asked, glad of the distraction, "No where, though I need to start lookin' for someplace to stay, damn I hate hotels." Kelly muttered. "You don't have a place to stay?" Orihime asked, pity coloring her voice, instantly Kelly became guarded, "Its nothing, I'm used to it, so don't pity me, I hate that" Orihime nodded, and then brightened, "You could stay with me!" Kelly looked at the girl in mild shock "Sure why the hell not" "Alright, why don't we help Kelly-san move in" Ishda suggested, god he must be truly bored. The others nodded, and Orihime led the way to her house. On the way, Kelly was filled in about the others living there, leaving out anything to do with Soul Society, and Orihime started discussing the menu for the night. Thankfully, the gang arrived at her house before Kelly could run screaming. "Hey, do we need to pick up your bags?" Rukia asked suddenly, but Kelly shook her head, "This is all I have with me" She said gesturing to the bag slung over a shoulder. As the group helped Kelly unpack, she explained a bit of her background. "Man there has got to be something to do" Ichigo murmured. "There's plenty to do, we could run in circles, play tag, try to kill each other, yell at random trees, jump of buildings, play kill Ichigo, plot to take over the world, have fights simply for the sake of fighting, or we could all die of boredom" Kelly supplied helpfully. Everyone laughed at the insane things Kelly had just suggested, "You know what's bad though?" Kelly asked and everyone shook there heads, "I was totally serious, I have been bored enough to do every one of those things." "Your kidding" Renji said, "Nope" everyone went back to silence, then Kelly jumped up, "Okay, whenever I'm bored I add to my list of insane dangerous things I've done, and the next thing I'm planning on" here Kelly added a small tension builder, "I don't know" she announced gleefully

That was how they all found themselves wandering aimlessly. Suddenly Kelly saw something down a street that looked intriguing, "Hey I'll be right back" she said, and ran off to look at the thing.

"You know what to do kill the girl and bring me the jewel" Grimmjaw bowed and exited, this wasn't going to last long

As Kelly walked down a street, trying to catch up with the rest of the group, a dude with blue hair and part of a white mask walked out of a rip in the sky. "Um, okay that ain't normal" Kelly commented as the man stood in front of her, "Names Grimmjaw, you would be Kelly" It wasn't a question, "Who cares?' Kelly asked defensively, And Grimmjaw laughed. "Just wanted to make sure I didn't kill the wrong person" he replied as he lunged at the girl. Instantly Kelly dodged and started running, "Oh Shit! Why the hell does this shit happen to me?" Kelly asked herself, but alas no answer was forthcoming, as she raced, trying to stay ahead of Grimmjaw.

Ichigo looked up as Grimmjaw's aura appeared very close. "Not good" Renji muttered when it became obvious that Kelly was somewhere near him. Just then said girl came tearing around the corner just as Grimmjaw punched a hole in the side walk. Instant reflex made Kelly turn and try to kick him, surprisingly he caught her foot (NOT), though just barely, yanking her foot back, Kelly continued to run, unknowingly heading for Urahara's shop, and the rest of the gang.

Just when Kelly thought she'd out run the crazy bastard, an animal type thing with a white mask ran at her and bit her in the side, throwing its head back, the thing threw Kelly up in the air. Renji and the others came around the corner in time to see Kelly's graceful arc. Amongst all the blood coming out, there was a gleam of light, and Kelly made out a jewel, "What the fuck?! That's not supposed to be there!" She yelled in shocked surprise, "Okay think, that jewel is what these people are after, and I doubt it would be good to give it to them, so we keep it" Kelly ran over options in her head. As soon as she touched the ground, her hands shot out grabbing the jewel. Grimmjaw had come to stand beside the beast. "Well now, is this jewel what you're after?" Kelly asked. "Grimmjaw you are so dead" Ichigo yelled charging at the man. "Humph, seems you've been saved, it won't happen again" Grimmjaw told Kelly as he and the beast stepped into a rip in the sky. "Bastard" Kelly muttered. "Oh my god, are you okay" Rukia asked as she came up, "Ichigo we have to get her to Urahara's" Rukia said not waiting for an answer, and promptly, Kelly was hustled to the shop.

There they found Urahara, Isshin, and Byakuya. "Oh my Renji what happened, and who is this?" Urahara asked as the group came into view, with a badly bleeding Kelly. "Kelly, Grimmjaw just attacked her and this jewel was ripped out of her side" Instantly Urahara's and Isshin's faces grew grave. "Let me see the jewel,' Isshin commanded, and Kelly released her death grip on it. As soon as the jewel thunked into his palm Isshin drew a breath. "Orihime, why don't you heal Kelly, while we explain" Urahara said, and Orihime dutifully summoned forth her powers.

"Are you sure it's her?" Urahara asked Isshin, who nodded, eyes never leaving Kelly. "How?" "Call it a father's instinct," Isshin replied, and Kelly decided to speak up, "How about instead of talking about me like I'm not here you tell us what's going on." Isshin nodded, "Well, how to say this? Uh, well, Kelly your real name is Sesshomaru Kurosaki, you're my daughter" Instant silence reigned, then Ichigo choked, "You're kidding" Ichigo choked, "We are both perfectly serious" Urahara stated, Kelly just looked at Isshin warily, then stated in a voice rivaling Byakuya's for coldness "Answers now, how is that possible, and what's that got to do with the jewel" "I'll take it from here" Urahara said, and the attention turned toward him.

"You were only two at the time, and your memory was erased, so that you wouldn't remember your sister. As soon as she was born, both Isshin and I detected power in her, power that was strangely compatible to an experiment of mine. Unfortunately that put her in grave danger. The experiment is the jewel you see there, it's like the thing Aizen stole, only several times more powerful. That Sesshomaru's spirit power was like the jewel's was puzzling so we tried to do some tests, however, as soon as she was exposed to the jewel it melded with her. We had no choice, but to give her to a family and hope that she never was drawn into Soul Society." At the end of Urahara's tale everyone was silent for about five minutes, "What is it with you and making dangerous shit?" Ichigo growled out. "Um sorry to digress, but there is the issue of Aizen wanting me dead" Kelly put in. "About that, we also sealed your shinigami powers, put they should be easy enough to activate." Isshin told her. "Okay, how?"

"Well, we thought having Ichigo, Renji, and captain Kuchiki around might have sparked them, but obviously not, so there is only one option left." "Why do I have a feeling it's going to involve something shiny and sharp being imbedded into my chest?" Kelly asked the wall, and Urahara laughed. "It does" and he drew the sword out of his cane, "If you would be so kind as to put this threw your heart" Kelly looked at it, "Explain why I should stab myself one of the few times I'm not being suicidal?" Kelly asked. "Because I'm going to use a bit of my power to tip yours into existence" Urahara replied. Kelly shrugged and gingerly put her hands next to his on the hilt, "You know normal people consider stabbing yourself with a sword a bad thing." she remarked, and put the sword through her chest.

Instantly there was a ripple of extreme power, and when the dust cleared up, Even Byakuya had a hard time keeping his jaw hinged. Kelly stood there in normal shinigami dress; in fact everything about her was normal for a shinigami, accept her zanpakto. It was at least twice as big as Ichigo's was originally and had no sheathe. "Um, this is kinda heavy, is there a way to control its size?" Kelly asked. "Yes" Byakuya replied. "Well, why don't we all go to the basement? Sesshomaru we're going to need to start training you." Isshin said cheerfully.

Down in the basement, Byakuya turned toward Kelly, "First thing you are going to learn is to seal the size of your sword to a manageable width." Kelly nodded. "No arguments" She said as she pulled the thing off her back. "Sit down," Byakuya instructed, and Kelly did so. Byakuya coached her through the process until her sword was down to the regular size. Putting it in the sheath at her waist Kelly smiled, "Well one thing down." "Hey doesn't it usually take having achieved shikai before you can seal a swords size?" Renji asked helpfully. "Well obviously Sesshomaru is an exception" Isshin replied. "Now, why don't you and I spar, to see how much you now about swordsmanship?" Urahara said, and Kelly pulled her sword back out.

Minutes later after sparing slightly Kelly suddenly cursed, "Urahara, we've got a problem" "What is it?" the man asked, "My blade is reversed" "Oh dear." Urahara replied to this frowning slightly. "Um, what does she mean?" Orihime asked, "I mean that the part of the blade that's supposed to be sharp is dull and the dull part is sharp" Kelly explained. Urahara frowned, "A reversed blade, few could kill with something like that." "I can teach her how to fight with a reversed blade" Renji suddenly put in. "How?" "I learned once" Renji said, it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it. "Very well, I suppose that you and your captain should teach her swordsmanship. I think that if Rukia taught her demon magic, and Yorichi taught her shunpo and hand combat she'd be all set." Isshin supplied, "Um, Kelly, I mean Sesshomaru, I guess you won't be staying with me" Orihime suddenly said. "Oh yeah, I guess she'll be living with us" Ichigo replied and looked at his dad. "But of course, Karin and Yuzu will be overjoyed to have another person in the house" Kelly looked as if she wanted to run.

"Concentrate!" Renji snapped at Kelly. "What the heck do you think I'm doing" the girl snapped right back, and before Renji could react, she slammed her blade down on his, following it up with a reverse cut, Kelly continued the pattern, despite it being 7:00 and her having trained for twelve hours straight. "Good" Renji yelled, slightly surprised that the girl was still standing after hours spent training, especially the last hour trying to survive a spar with Byakuya who was trying to get her to learn the name of her zanpakto in record time. She was a natural with the blade, and had mastered almost everything he could teach her, Rukia said that she was doing okay in demon magic, and had mastered shunpo without difficulty. After a few minutes more of furious sparing, Renji called a halt. Sesshomaru's breathing was hard and ragged, as she dug the point of her sword in, trying to stay standing. "I'm impressed," Byakuya said as he came up, and Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, "At what? The fact that I can breathe?" she asked "No, the fact that you haven't dropped from exhaustion, and your quick mastery of skills. Your father says its time for a break." Sesshomaru nodded, and groaning sheathed her sword. Painfully she walked to the ladder. Renji came up behind her, "Ya want help?" he asked and Sesshomaru shook her head, "I can do this, thanks though" and so saying managed to get all the way up the ladder and into the kitchen on her own.

"I'm sure you aren't feeling to good right now" Sesshomaru glared at Urahara who smiled flamboyantly, "So I made a few adjustments to downstairs" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow but Yorichi had already guessed. "There is a hot spring down there if you would" All that was left was the wind, seeing as Yorichi had grabbed Sesshomaru and used Shunpo to get to the spring in record time. "Yorichi, next time give me warning" Sesshomaru said with a groan, "Oh sorry, I just love hot springs and at least you're a girl so no one will berate me for not having clothes on." Yorichi said sheepishly as she stripped and stepped into the water. Sesshomaru hesitated a minute before removing her shirt, immediately Yorichi drew a breath, black, blue, and red tattoos patterned over Sesshomaru's chest, some curling around to her back. "Oh my" Yorichi whispered, but Sesshomaru's eyes screamed don't ask, and so Yorichi didn't. Sesshomaru slid into the water a moment later and sighed, "This is soooo nice after getting beat into the ground" she murmured. Yorichi nodded. "There's shampoo behind you" she told the younger girl. Sesshomaru nodded, and rising halfway out of the water, she turned to get it. Yorichi's eyes widened at the sight of the girls back, a long scar ran from her right shoulder to her left hip, like someone had tried to cut the girl in two. Yorichi decided not to ask questions. As Sesshomaru took her hair out of its pony tail and brushed it, she waited for the questions, when none were forthcoming she relaxed and proceeded to wash her hair.

After the girls had soaked for sometime, they got out, and changed into night clothes. Coming back up the ladder, Sesshomaru wasn't surprised when her father tried to kill her. "So did you two lady's enjoy the hot spring?" Urahara asked, and they nodded. Everyone sat around the table and discussed plans for Aizen, and how to tell Soul society about the new Kurosaki. Suddenly the communicators went off, and everyone, including Sesshomaru, went off to fight. They found Grimmjaw and Hitsiguya fighting, but as soon as he saw Sesshomaru Grimmjaw's made a beeline for her. Sesshomaru dodged as Hitsiguya landed next to his vice captain, "Who's she?" he asked Renji, "I'll introduce you after the fight."

Sesshomaru knew that she had a very high chance of losing, she had only twelve hours of training total, and Grimmjaw was the sixth most powerful of the arrancars. She could see the immense power gap, and wasn't stupid enough to think this was going to end without lots of her blood hitting the ground. She was right, Grimmjaw moved to fast for her to keep up with, and Sesshomaru soon found herself with a couple of holes in her torso and lots of deep slashes. Grimmjaw threw her back to earth, and looked at the crater, "Guess that's over, you people die too easily" Inside the hole, with her blood pooling around her, Sesshomaru's blood boiled, but she couldn't make her body move. 'Damn it, come on I have to live, I have to win.' She screamed in her mind, as Grimmjaw landed a few feet away. 'You want to win, or you have to win?' a voice asked, 'Have to' Sesshomaru screamed in her mind. 'The call me' the voice faded, and Sesshomaru realized who's it was. "Well now that that girls dead, how about I move on to the rest of you" Grimmjaw turned away, came from the crater, "Don't count me out yet, Shiane." A blast of black spirit energy came from the crater, and Grimmjaw only just managed to block it.

When the smoke cleared Sesshomaru came into focus, instead of her reversed blade, there was a double edged sword which was insanely long in her hand, the blade was inscribed with strange symbols, and to everyone's surprise, no hilt or guard. Instead there was a strip of black linen wrapped around it that continued out about a foot from the edge of the hilt. "Well, this just got interesting" Grimmjaw remarked, as he drew his own sword. The power rolling of Sesshomaru was insane, and Rukia was starting to crumple under the weight of it. Noticing this, Sesshomaru reigned in the spirit power around her. 'Alright I got this far Shiane, now would be a good time for a little help' Sesshomaru asked silently, 'we are supposed to fight together' She felt knowledge settle into her mind, and a smirk made its way onto her face. Sesshomaru pointed Shiane at Grimmjaw, and said, "First song, letisre" A tornado burst from the edge of her sword, and went for Grimmjaw. As he blocked it, he felt blades slicing into him. "Shit," he growled out. "This isn't over bitch" he hissed as he returned to Hueco Mundo. Sesshomaru looked at her sword, and then sighed, Shiane returned to its original form.

"This is Captain Toshirou Hitsiguya, and his vice-captain Matsumoto." Renji introduce the two to Sesshomaru who nodded to them, "Kurosaki Sesshomaru" she replied tersely. Instant surprise registered on the two's face. "We'll explain later, for now we need to get Sesshomaru back to Urahara's so that she can be patched up" Byakuya interceded as Rukia muttered "again"

That night as Sesshomaru slept back at the Kurosaki house hold everyone met at Urahara's to explain everything and discuss the newest set of problems by Sesshomaru's shikai. "Aizen seems bent on killing her, so we should put someone to guard her." Byakuya mussed, "Yeah but who?" Ichigo asked. "Why not Renji?" Isshin suggested. "What, why me?" Renji asked, "Because you have nothing better to do, besides you'll be the one spending the most time with her besides Captain Kuchiki for her training" Urahara explained. "Oh" Renji muttered, and the talk turned to other components of this messed up deal.

The next morning, Sesshomaru reported to the basement and was met with Byakuya and Renji waiting for her. "Since you've gained the name of your soul slayer we are going to start trying to get you a bankai, I'll mostly be the one training you" Renji explained, and Sesshomaru nodded.

"At this rate you'll never get a bankai you lazy ass!" Renji yelled at his pupil, "You aren't trying" "The fuck I'm not" Sesshomaru yelled right back. Renji sheathed his sword and snorted, "We're done for today." He stated and left. That night alone in her bedroom, Sesshomaru punched the pillow, remembering those words. "Damn bastard, I mean seriously this isn't exactly my fault" Sesshomaru muttered rebelliously, but in her heart she knew that she hadn't been trying. "Fine, I'll get my bankai, and show him" she muttered fiercely. Deciding to use a different method, one she had yet to tell anyone about, Sesshomaru brought herself to her inner world.

There, Shiane waited for her. "Hey man you around?" Sesshomaru called, and Shiane appeared as he always did, straight and upright his long auburn hair flowing behind him. "Shiane, would you train me, and tell me about yourself, I mean, if we're going to survive we need to know about each other. " Sesshomaru asked the austere man. "Of course." And the training began.

The next day, instead of training, Sesshomaru got a battle, "Tousen has led a few espada into Soul Society, we're going to help out" Ichigo told her. Sesshomaru smirked, and walked through the gateway behind her brother. Upon entering Soul Society, Ichigo and Renji turned to her, "Stick close to one of us, apparently Byakuya doesn't trust you to be fighting alone yet, 'kay" Sesshomaru growled curses under her breath, then nodded. "Let's go kick some ass" Renji smiled to himself, 'Just like her brother'

The three ran towards the area where the fighting was happening. There was Tousen, Grimmjaw and other espada trying to get into Soul Society. Every captain and vice-captain was there trying to keep them out. When Sesshomaru arrived, Renji and Ichigo automatically went into the fray, while she began fighting a few of the weakest arrancars, ones she didn't need to go to shikai on. Alas it was not to last "So you're the one Aizen wants dead" Tousen remarked from behind her, Sesshomaru swung around in time to block his sword. 'Shit, not good!' Sesshomaru started fighting with Tousen, who steadily pushed her back, until Sesshomaru realized that they were alone. "Now you die" Tousen told her, "Sure 'bout that?" Sesshomaru asked with a smirk as she upped her aura.

Suddenly everyone looked up as a huge spike of reitsu filled the area, "Fuck that Sesshomaru's and Tousen's" Ichigo yelled and Renji swore, the two set off towards the area leaving behind lots of puzzled people and a very worried, Ishda, Chad, Orihime, Hitsiguya, Matsumoto, Rukia and Byakuya.

Sesshomaru watched as Tousen's body fell back to earth, shock still implanted on his face. Slowly her sword went back to normal, and she started to fall. 'Shit I used up to much energy'. Renji came up the hill to see Tousen's body, and Sesshomaru about to crumple. He ran and caught the girl before she hit the ground. When the reitsu registered his eyes widened, "You used a bankai?" He whispered, "Yeah" Sesshomaru replied, voice slightly slurred. Well that answered to what was wrong, "When did you get a bankai?" "You called me a lazy ass", Sesshomaru fell asleep before any more could be said. Ichigo came up moments later. "Is she?" he asked and Renji nodded, "She's fine just tired, Ichigo she used a bankai to kill Tousen!" Ichigo's eyes widened, "What do you think we should tell the others?" He asked, "As little as possible, it took you months to get bankai, she got it in a week, captains gonna be pissed." Renji and Ichigo smiled at that one. Renji picked Sesshomaru and started back down to the battle sight. When they got back, they found the battle over.

Dodging the three million questions, the little group found a place for Sesshomaru to continue sleeping undisturbed. "What happened?" Byakuya asked, and Renji and Ichigo looked at each other, "We just saw the end of the fight, but we know that Tousen's dead, and there was a large amount of Sesshomaru's reitsu around the area." Renji reported. "Hmm, for now I think that we should wait until Sesshomaru wakes up before telling anything" The group nodded, and waited for Sesshomaru to wake.

The next morning Sesshomaru came to with a groan. "Fuck my head hurts." "Well you're awake obviously" Ichigo observed from her bedside, "No I'm sleepwalking" Sesshomaru replied cuttingly. "Well, looks like we're gonna have to introduce you now that you're up" Rukia told her. "This is gonna be weird" Sesshomaru murmured as she swung out of bed. The group walked out of the room to be met with Unohoha. "Hello, I'm the captain of the fourth division," Sesshomaru nodded, "Kurosaki Sesshomaru, thanks for lending me the room" Unohoha smiled softly. "Is there somewhere we need to be?" Sesshomaru asked as they wandered through an endless maze of corridors. "Yes, we're going to see the commander general" Byakuya ignored Rukia's gasp of disbelief. "Is that a good idea captain?" Renji asked, "It is nessecary."

The little group was shown into the study where Yamoto waited for them. "Sesshomaru this is the commander general of the Gotie 13" Byakuya introduced her. The old man inclined his head, "Pleased to meet you" "The pleasure is all mine, sir, I'm Kurosaki Sesshomaru" the group held there breath and waited for the hammer stroke to fall. "Another one, well at least you have manners, and I trust you got your powers legally" Yamoto told her sternly, and Sesshomaru nodded. "Very well then, I trust that with two captains around we won't have a repeat of your brother.' Sesshomaru smiled slightly, "Sounds like a plan"

The group stayed on in Soul society introducing Sesshomaru to all the other captains, well accept for Kenpachi, Ichigo wasn't ready to find out how the psychotic captain would react to having another Kurosaki around. For now, Sesshomaru was sitting on top of one of the many random buildings contemplating how to get away from her guard the next time. Yes she had a guard, Ichigo, Renji, Rukia and Matsomoto were responsible for keeping Sesshomaru from pulling any of her insane stunts, however, it wasn't working, she lost them at least once a day. Sighing, Sesshomaru jumped down into the alleyway and started wandering back to sixth squad headquarters when suddenly she felt a massive reitsu coming along. "Who are you?" Sesshomaru looked up at the man who had bells and an eye patch, "Who wants to know?" "Kenpachi" Sesshomaru smirked, "Kurosaki Sesshomaru" Kenpachi's one eye widened, "You related to Ichigo" "Yep, sadly he is my brother, you're the psychotic dude that everyone is trying to keep me from meeting" Kenpachi smiled, "You strong?" "Care to find out"

"Where is Sesshomaru?" Byakuya asked the assembled group, "she gave us the slip' Matsomoto replied. "Nii-sama, please it's not like Sesshomaru can get into much trouble" as soon as the words were out of Rukia's mouth, the group felt two spikes of reitsu, Sesshomaru's and Kenpachi's. "Fuck, that's bad we better go rescue Kenpachi" Renji whispered to Ichigo, not intending that anyone else hear, unfortunately luck was not with them. "Don't you mean rescue Sesshomaru?" Rukia asked.

With a clash accompanied by a burst of reitsu, the two figures came together and pulled back. "I ain't had this much fun in a fight since fighting your brother." Kenpachi smiled at the girl, who was half his size. "Yeah, well its to bad Tousen wasn't this hard, he might have lasted longer than two seconds" Sesshomaru smirked, "Hey wait, you killed Tousen" "Yeah" "How old are you?" "What's it to you, quit talking and start fighting" with that the captain and the girl doubled their ferocity, until they heard, "Sesshomaru, Kenpachi please stop" Sesshomaru looked towards Orihime, who was just in front of Ichigo, Renji and Byakuya. Sesshomaru's eyebrow twitched, "Fuck my guard found me" Kenpachi looked at her, "Well this was fun, but I'm afraid we'll have to continue this at a latter date" Kenpachi nodded, "Just don't die before then" Sesshomaru smirked at him as she walked away.

"Are you trying to get killed?" Byakuya asked Sesshomaru. "Well, no not really, whats the deal, its just a fight with pscho who wants to kill everyone he gets in a fight with, its not like I was in any danger" Renji raised an eyebrow, "Are you really that clueless, or do you just not listen to what comes out of your mouth?" "Neither, I simply enjoy putting myself in harms way" Sesshomaru replied with a smirk. Just then, Rukia burst in, "The espada are attacking again, but they seem to be interested in finding Sesshomaru this time." Instantly, Sesshomaru was out the door, Renji and Ichigo shared a look and then followed her.

Finding the battle scene wasn't hard, and as Sesshomaru came up, she was immediately attacked by Grimmjaw. "Not you again" she groaned, parrying his sword, "What'dya want this time?" "Aizen is very interested in the girl who killed Tousen, and we still want the jewel." Sesshomaru smirked, "I don't have the jewel any more" Grimmjaw sucked in a breath, "really, well I'll find it, but for now, release your soul slayer" "With pleasure. Let none stand against me and live, Shiane!" All eyes turned toward Sesshomaru as her sword came into focus. Instantly Grimmjaw attacked, "second song, wasente!" a shield of earth surrounded Sesshomaru blocking Grimmjaws attack, "Letisre!" the tornado came out again, but this time, Grimmjaw blocked it, "Come now, you must be able to do better than that, you did manage to kill Tousen" Grimmjaw mocked Sesshomaru, Renji and Ichigo looked at each other. 'Fuck, I can't let them see my bankai, soul society will freak' Sesshomaru thought.

"third song Wisane" a huge wave crashed down, bearing aloft thousands of blades. Before Grimmjaw could fully recover, "Fristente" fire surged from Sesshomaru's sword, enfulging both him and the wave."Inside the cocoon, Grimmjaw smirked, "Not bad, but not good enough" letting his spirit power rip apart the blaze, Grimmjaw landed mostly unhurt. "That's good, but you must have something left if you beat Tousen." Sesshomaru gritted her teeth, "Damn you" she spat, as she lunged, "wasente" instead of the shield Grimmjaw had expected, the earth under him heaved, sending him flying, and Sesshomaru jumped, the two met with a clash in mid air. Several minutes of fighting followed, with much cursing on Sesshomaru's part. "I can't think how you managed, if this is all the power you have" Grimmjaw remaked, looking at Sesshomaru, who was exhausted. "Now you die" Grimmjaw raised his sword, "Ya know, that's what Tousen said seconds before he died, ya sure you want ta say that?" Sesshomaru asked, with a smirk as her spirit power suddenly shot up around her, Grimmjaw's eyes widened, Sesshomaru brought her sword forward pointing at him. Then the words no ne expected to hear came out of her mouth, "BanKai" Renji and Ichigo looked on with slight apprehension, they were the only ones who knew this wasn't the first time, but still, there was no way she could have a bankai. The dust suddenly cleared and Byakuya's eye twitched.

There was Sesshomaru, only much altered, her sword had gone back to being a reverse blade, white with a black hilt and guard, normal katana sized. Things went down hill from there, the usual shinigami robes had been replaced with tight fitting black pants, and a white cape thing, with ripped sleeves. On Sesshomaru's upper right arm, several black celtic symbols ringed her bicep, and her left forearm seemed to have a multi-colored dragon tattoo. Sesshomaru had her face averted so that half was covered in shadow.

"Well, this is a surprise, that must be a record" Grimmjaw remarked, trying to hide his concern, if Sesshomaru's bankai was on par with her shikai, he was in trouble. The half of her face that was visible smirked, "Oh it goes even farther down hill from there, though I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet." Grimmjaw frowned, "What" The smirk widened, "You'll see." Suddenly, Sesshomaru moved, and Grimmjaw barely got his sword up in time, "Damn, she's fast" then he looked at her face, and a very audible gasp escaped him. The two fell apart, "Nani you looked surprised" Sesshomaru commented, as Grimmjaw visibly struggled for control, "Of course I'm surprised, you've got a goddamn mask!" Sure enough, half of Sesshomaru's face was covered by a mask, only it was… "Why the heck is it black?!?" Ichigo yelled. Yep, to top everything off, Sesshomaru's mask was black. "Good question, I have some theory's on that, but those are best kept for a later date." Sesshomaru remarked. Suddenly a rift in the sky appeared, "Any more fighting would be pointless, this will be continued later." Grimmjaw remarked as he retreated. "WTF" Sesshomaru shouted, letting her bankai dissolve and sheathing her sword, "Coward" she snorted, then, she sighed and turned to face the wrath of Soul Society.

As she had thought, Soul Society had freaked, but Sesshomaru did know enough of what was going on to reassure almost everyone. "It all makes perfect sense, because of the stupid jewel which was melded with me, my Soul Slayer and shinigami powers have melded slightly with hollow powers. There is no need to worry about having a hollow go out of control because the full blend is complete meaning that the hollow is completely under my control. With more training I can pull the half mask out any time I fight, not just in bankai." Sesshomaru explained to all the captains. "very well, but you told Grimmjaw you no longer had the jewel, what happened to it?" Byakuya asked after a moments silence, "Well, saying I no longer had it might have been a stretch, it sorta melded with my sword." "Very well, as everything seems to be under control, I am going to leave this in your hands. I trust that if anything goes wrong you'll tell someone." Sesshomaru bowed to Yamoto, thanking him. "Also, normally when someone reaches your power we would put a limiter on them while they were in the real world, with your hollow, that would seem to be needed even more, however, putting a limiter on you has two problems. One, the process for taking it off is lengthy and could cost lives, and two I have a bad feeling you'd break it, so I am just going to warn you to be careful about your spirit power" Sesshomaru bowed to the old man again, thus ending the audience.


	2. Evil Plans, and making nice

**Well, heres the new chapter******** hope everyone enjoys, though reviews would be appreciated. Though, this fic. has gotten more hits on one chapter than my other has on its four chapters******

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"Why is the girl still living, she has had, maybe a week of training, yet you fail to kill her" Aizen looked at Grimmjaw, who swallowed nervously, "Aizen-sama, the girl now has a bankai, and a mask, I'm not sure she's all shinigami" Aizen smirked softly, "Well, well well, looks like I'll have to pay her a visit, ne?"

"You really are amazing, ya know that?" Sesshomaru turned to see Renji leaning casually against the wall. "How so?" she asked clearly puzzled, "Well from your description, you achieved bankai in one night, said bankai includes full control of hollow powers, you killed one of the former captains, and you beat Kenpachi in a fight without releasing you zanpakto, how are you not?" Sesshomaru sighed and looked out over the horizon. "It sounds so great when you put it like that, but it really is nothing, I'm just a normal girl who was thrust into a situation beyond her control. All I'm doing is surviving, if I didn't reach bankai I would have died, and if I didn't beat Tousen he'd of killed me. You see nothing glorious or amazing about it" Renji smirked, "You didn't mention the hollow powers or the fight with Kenpachi. But I get your point; you don't want credit for the fact that you are probably one of the most powerful shinigami out there right now." Sesshomaru frowned, "I am not, by the way, what are you doing here?" "Right sure your not, and I am your guard." Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow before turning to walk back to the house. Silently Renji followed.

When they reached the house, Sesshomaru let herself in, and motioned for Renji to follow, "Where's the rest of the family?" Renji asked, "Karin and Yuzu are at friend's for the week, Isshin is also visiting friends, and Ichigo stayed back in Soul Society for training" Sesshomaru replied, walking into the kitchen with Renji following her. "So they left the house to you, what if someone tries to kill you during the night, Kuchiki'd have a fit if he knew you're staying a lone" As Renji told her how stupid and reckless she was being, Sesshomaru began to heat a mug of water in the microwave. Renji nearly jumped out of his skin when the machine dingded. Calmly Sesshomaru made a cup of instant coffee.

Renji watched the girl as she moved around the kitchen, finding himself entranced by her movements. "Staring at me like that is kinda creepy, ya know that" Sesshomaru's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Humph, who'd want to look at you?" "You obviously" Renji had no comeback, and the subject was dropped. Silence settled over the two, not that Sesshomaru minded it. Her mind wandered over all that had been happening, and she wondered if any of it meant anything. Renji looked out into space, thinking about the girl sitting across from him. Suddenly the telephone rang, and Sesshomaru picked it up, talked for minute, then hung up.

Sesshomaru sat back down and finished up her coffee. She rinsed it in the sink and turned to Renji, "Did you eat dinner already?" Renji nodded, and Sesshomaru smiled, "Good" Renji followed her up stairs. "I guess you can stay in Ichigo's room" Sesshomaru began but Renji cut her off, "Captain told me to stay near you, and his room is down the hall" Sesshomaru sighed, then jerked her head. Renji followed her into the room right next to her own, "Close enough?" Renji nodded.

That night, Sesshomaru dreamed. Renji heard her tossing from the other room, and went to go investigate. Before he made it to her room, a scream shattered the stillness, and Renji barged in to see Sesshomaru sitting up in bed. "You okay?" Renji asked uncertainly. "Yeah, fine, sorry" Renji nodded and went back to his room. 'Why does this have to haunt me now?' Sesshomaru asked herself, yet no answer came. She spent a sleepless night, worrying.

"So what's the game plan for today?" Renji asked Sesshomaru as she sat down with another cup of coffee. "Nothing really, I'll probably stay here all day, so your job's gonna get dull, you want breakfast?" Renji nodded, and Sesshomaru made him a fruit salad, "Ain't you gonna eat?" he asked, noticing that Sesshomaru hadn't made one for herself; "Na, I'm not hungry" Renji nodded. After he'd eaten and cleaned his dishes, he wandered back up to Sesshomaru's bedroom; there he found her messing around with a laptop. Renji quietly sat on her bed and watched her. After she'd gotten the thing set up, Renji watched her check her e-mail, in English, and start browsing through a website, "What are you looking at?" Renji asked, "You Tube, I'm lookin for the latest episodes of an anime I like" "Huh?" Renji asked, and Sesshomaru laughed. Renji realized with a jolt that in the week he'd known her, Sesshomaru had never truly laughed. The sound was beautiful, and Renji started to wonder if maybe, this girl was really as young as her age.

When Sesshomaru had stopped laughing, she explained, and motioned Renji over. "Since I'm sure you're gonna get bored just sitting there watching me, you may as well be introduced to the joys of anime" Thus Renji was introduced to InuYasha. At episode six, they both had a laugh at the fact that Sesshomaru shared a name with a character. "Kinda reminds you of Captain Kuchiki, doesn't he?" Sesshomaru remarked. "Yeah, though this dude also gives off the air of Kenpachi." Renji replied, "Naw, I mean, Sesshomaru likes fighting yeah, but you can tell, Kenpachi is just too vulgar in his taste for Fluffy. Hey, since Byakuya resembles Fluffy here why don't we call him fluffy?" Renji's eye twitched, "Do you have a death wish" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, and Renji smiled, "Fine, but you are so taking the penalty." "Deal"

Around noon, Sesshomaru made Renji lunch, again protesting that she wasn't hungry and the two went back to watching anime. It was official, Renji was hooked, and so since they had nothing better to do, the two watched InuYasha all day stopping only for dinner, which Sesshomaru skipped again. At ten, they decided to call it a night. Renji quietly went back to his room. However, it seemed that he was just too keyed up to sleep, and ended up staying up all night. Sesshomaru didn't fare much better, not that she tried.

The next day, Sesshomaru got up early, and had breakfast made when Renji came downstairs. Saying she'd already eaten, Sesshomaru went up to her room. The day that followed was like the one before, with Sesshomaru not eating, and the two watching anime to there hearts content. Renji graduated from InuYasha and moved on to several others.

Most of the week followed like that, Sesshomaru neither eating nor sleeping, and Renji simply not sleeping. During the day, the two amused themselves with anime, but at night, reality set in, and they began to worry. Byakuya's orders were for the both of them to stay at home and not go after hollows, meaning no fighting, no training, and no patrolling. At night, Renji and Sesshomaru worried about everyone, hoping against hope that they were all okay.

While Renji and Sesshomaru moved on about there lives, Ichigo was training in Soul Society. "Concentrate on your reitsu and try to shape it" Soi Fong yelled at him for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day. As Ichigo was deficient in kiddou and hand to hand combat, Soi Fong was trying, unsuccessfully, to teach him. His hand to hand combat was actually doing okay, he just sucked at kiddou. And it didn't help that his hollow reminded him of that fact every night.

"Hey King, you suck ya know that" Ichigo mentally sighed and rolled over in bed. "Really now, this is something even that wimp Hanataro learned." "Yeah, well he also wasn't taught in a crash course" Ichigo yelled at his hollow, as he found himself in his inner world. His hollow grinned back at him, "Excuses," as Ichigo reached for Zangetsu the hollow held up his hands, "For once I didn't bring you here to fight." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at this, but relaxed slightly. "Frankly, you came to Soul Society to train in kiddou, and you suck at it, but not for lack of trying. What that freaky ninja lady ain't figured out yet is your reitsu works differently; therefore all of her methods won't work for teaching you." The hollow sat down, and Ichigo followed suit. "Is there a point to this?"

"Yes, I'm here to strike a deal with you" Ichigo's eyebrow rose. "I'll teach you kiddou, how to control my powers in shinigami form without calling out a mask, and control when you do pull out your mask" "What do you want in return?" Ichigo asked suspicious. "Let me fight a few battles, heck I'll let you choose which ones so that none of your friends find out, and I won't hurt any of your allies." Ichigo considered, "During these battles, you would have control" a nod, "But you will let me choose which battles" another nod, "And you won't hurt anyone but the enemy, and I regain control after the fight" another nod. "In return you teach me kiddou and use of your powers" "Yes" Ichigo thought about it for a minute, "That's a little weird coming from you since you seemed intent on destroying me" The hollow nodded in agreement and looked out across the upside down world.

"Since we're both being honest I'll tell you something, I hate the rain as much as Zangetsu does, and it's raining pretty darn often in here. It's because you're worried for your friends. You don't think that you can protect them with the power you have now, and you're right. You're also worried about the new girl, Sesshomaru, and your feelings for Rukia, which won't stay professional. Frankly, I'm tired of the rain, and I just want it to stop. Besides, trying to destroy you is suicide. You do have the killer instinct, its buried, and you deny it, but its there. So I've decided to give up, acknowledge you king, and help you out, you just have to meet me half-way" The hollow looked back at Ichigo with a slight grin.

"Alright, you've got a deal" Ichigo told him. "You got a name, cause callin' you hollow will get old fast?" The hollow thought for a minute, "No I ain't got a name, but your right, and I don't much like horse either" Ichigo grinned slightly. "Hmm, how about Hades? That's the Greek god of the underworld; it's also another name for the underworld itself." The hollow looked at him in surprise, "I like it, well, Hades it is then" the two stood up, and commenced training.

The next morning, Ichigo woke up with a smile, but that was about to change. As he was getting ready, Rukia came into his room. "Um, Ichigo, can I talk to you?" she asked, Ichigo nodded, "Sure, what about" "It's about you and nii-sama." "Meaning the fact that he hates me, and I have issues with being in the same room as him for more than twenty seconds?" Ichigo asked, and Rukia nodded. "Umm, I know this is asking a lot, but could you try to get along with him?" Ichigo looked at her in surprise. "Where does this come from?" Rukia looked embarrassed, "Well, you and nii-sama are both close to me, and I really don't like it when you to argue. And also I think that he respects you, for beating him." Ichigo thought for a minute, back to what Hades had said last night, "Alright I'll try, as long as he meets me half way" Rukia smiled at him and practically skipped out.

"Well that was interesting, looks like your making nice with everyone" Hades put in as Ichigo walked to training, this time with Yorichi. "Well, if either of us wants to survive, we're both going to have to learn to trust each other." "True enough"

Byakuya looked up as his adopted sister was shown into the room. "Yes Rukia, what is it?" he asked. "Nii-sama, I have a request." Byakuya raised an eyebrow, this was unusual. "Yes, what is it?" "Nii-sama, I know this is a lot to ask, but could you please try to get along with Ichigo?" Byakuya studied his sister. "You are referring to the fact that he has issues with being in the room with me for more than twenty seconds, and people think I hate him?" Rukia nodded. "Why?" Rukia thought for a moment, "Because nii-sama, Ichigo is powerful, but has little discipline and, as you've noted, no restraint. However, he, and I believe, you have a common goal. You both try to protect me, each in your own way. Ichigo is lonely, I know, and I think you are to. Please, you are both dear to me, and I hate it when you fight." Byakuya looked at his sister, "Alright, have you spoken to him?" Rukia nodded, "And he is willing to try, if you are" Byakuya thought, "Very well, I am willing to try." Rukia looked, up, and in an uncharacteristic display of affection, hugged him, before bowing and walking out.

The truth was, Byakuya didn't hate Ichigo Kurosaki; he respected him. However much the young man stamped on his principles, he could see the sense in the things he did. Slowly Byakuya stood up, and walked out heading for the place the boy was training. When he reached the place, Ichigo was sparring with Yorichi, but that ended as soon as Yorichi noted Byakuya standing there. "Hello, Captain Kuchiki," Ichigo greeted, somewhat cautious. Byakuya nodded to him, then turned to Yorichi, "Would you mind if I borrowed Kurosaki for a while?" Yorichi gestured for him to go ahead, and the two men walked a ways away. "Did Rukia talk to you?" Ichigo asked Byakuya as soon as they were both still. He nodded, and turned to the younger boy, but Ichigo beet him to speaking, "Look, I'm not completely sure how you feel about me; you're too good at hiding your emotions. I know you don't like the way I operate, and frankly, I don't like your way. But, I am willing to try and make nice, as long as you meet me half-way." Byakuya looked at the young man.

"You aren't completely right, I don't like your lake of discipline, but the way you work gets things done, you fight for what you believe in. I respect that, so I'm here to make a deal. You are as or more powerful than me, that's a given, but there are some techniques you haven't mastered, I'm willing to help you, and since that's just my way, I may pound some discipline into your head. In return, we both get a long better, and simply being around you might give me a chance to remember how to be human." Ichigo smiled at Byakuya, "Sounds good. I'm sure getting some discipline pounded into my head won't hurt" Byakuya smiled at him. "Right, though everyone might just die of shock" "I think **I'm** going to die of shock, you just smiled and made a joke" both men laughed at that.

That night, when Byakuya and Ichigo walked back to the mansion, where Ichigo was staying, Rukia met them at the door way, "Decided to stop trying to kill each other?" she asked, and they both nodded.

That night, back at his inner world, during a break in the training, Hades turned to Ichigo, "Hey king, I just realized, we ain't seen that fool Renji in a while" Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, hmm maybe Byakuya finally killed him off" Hades laughed. "Unlikely, but I was starting to like fighting that Zabimaru dude, next time we see him, will you spar with him?" "Hmm sure, he's probably back in the living world, and I'm planning on going back in three days."

Renji was simply staring at his wall thinking about nothing in particular at the time of this conversation. When Isshin had come back, Renji'd relocated to Sesshomaru's closet, both to avoid being caught, and to make sure she was okay; he knew she wasn't sleeping, and that worried him. Not that he was doing much better. Sesshomaru was back in her inner world, having an… interesting talk. Standing across from her was Shiane, and herself?

The girl in front of her had midnight black hair, pale skin, yellow and black eyes, and interesting shinigami robes. They were the color of fresh blood. "Okay, so you're my hollow?" Sesshomaru asked, taking a stab in the dark. "Yep, pleased to meet you, king" "Um, do you have a name?" Sesshomaru asked, "No, but I think calling me Kelly would work, ne" Sesshomaru shrugged and looked to Shiane, "What's up man?" "I think its time you practiced using hollow powers without bankai." "Sure why not" Thus did training begin.

"Hey Byakuya, where's Renji been, I haven't seen him?" Ichigo asked during breakfast. "I left him in the living world to guard your sister" Ichigo smirked, "I'm sure she's just thrilled that you gave her a guard, is Renji the only shinigami in the living world?" "No, Captain Hitsiguya, and Vice- captain Matsumoto, along with Ikkaku and Yumichika are all fighting off the hollows there. Speaking of which, when did you plan on returning?" "In three days, though I'll go sooner if I'm needed." Byakuya nodded, "I shall be accompanying you and Rukia back." Ichigo nodded, before the details processed, "Rukia's coming back?" "Yes"

Three days passed quickly, with Ichigo and Byakuya learning to be civil to each other. The trio stepped through the gate, and arrived back in Urahara's basement. Quickly, the three climbed the stairs, to find all the other shinigami, minus Renji and Sesshomaru, in a meeting. "Ah, Kurosaki-kun, Rukia- chan, and Captain Kuchiki, this is a surprise." Urahara greeted them. "Hey, what's been going on?" Ichigo asked, noting the worried faces. "Nothing, absolutely nothing. That's the problem, no hollows, arrancars, or espada have shown since that last battle," Hitsiguya replied. "How are Sesshomaru and Renji?" Ichigo asked, "There fine, no attacks on them that we know of. They've followed orders not to go patrolling." Matsumoto reported, "Hmm, I wonder which one is dead on the floor?" Ichigo asked the wall. The group laughed, effectively lessening the tension. "Well I better get back and see how everything is, umm, is Rukia going to be staying here or" Byakuya cut Ichigo off, "She'll be staying with you" Ichigo nodded, "and you?" "I'll be here" Ichigo and Rukia then set off for the Kurosaki household.

At which, Rukia climbed up to Ichigo's room and Ichigo evaded his dad and followed her. Rukia smiled, when she realized, that Ichigo hadn't removed the bed at all, her pajamas were still folded up on top of the futon, and the sheets were fresh. "Thanks" She whispered, but Ichigo heard her. "No prob." Let's go see Sesshomaru, and see if we can find Renji's body. Rukia laughed softly, and followed Ichigo into his sister's room. To find Sesshomaru and Renji arguing over something called alchemy, and anime. As Rukia and Ichigo entered the room, Sesshomaru looked up and smiled. "Hey, good to see you made it back in one piece" Renji nodded in agreement. "Didn't get killed by Kenpachi?" Ichigo shook his head, "No Kenpachi is going to be pissed when he finds out I came to Soul Society without anyone telling him. He was still in fourth division, healing from the number someone did on him" Pointed look at Sesshomaru, who laughed, "Its his fault" Rukia shook her head. "You are amazing"

Sesshomaru looked up at her surprised, "Um, why do people say that?" "Because its true dumbass" Renji put in. "No it isn't" Sesshomaru replied stubbornly. Before the fight could escalate, Isshin burst into the room, Rukia and Renji disappeared, and Ichigo blocked the kick thrown at him. "Hey Dad" Sesshomaru greeted. "Hello my blessed daughter, has you horrible older brother been disturbing you? Don't worry, Daddy will protect you from all the manly hormones" Isshin yelled at the top of his voice while trying to hug Sesshomaru, who simply put her foot in his face. "Really Dad, at least try to act like a shinigami captain" Sesshomaru asked, as she turned back to her lap top. Isshin ran out crying, and Renji and Rukia emerged. Rukia from under the bed, Renji from the closet. "Your old man needs help" Renji complained, no one missed the strange pained look that flashed through Sesshomaru's eyes before clearing up.

That night, Renji and Sesshomaru insisted on going to Urahara's with Ichigo and Rukia. "Byakuya's going to kill me" Ichigo told the two as they walked down the street. "Naw, Fluffy wouldn't do that" Sesshomaru replied without thinking. Ichigo and Rukia paled. "I don't know, he was pretty adamant on you staying out of trouble." Renji put in not at all fazed, "Your point" "Fluffy is a real bitch about following orders" Ichigo suddenly burst out laughing, while Rukia just got paler. "Hey wait, are you calling Byakuya Fluffy?" Ichigo asked, and the two nodded. "You are both so going to die when he finds out. "Tell him and you die" Renji told Ichigo calmly. "Oh really, can you back that up?" Ichigo retaliated, remembering his promise to his hollow. "Humph I can kick your ass any time" "Um Renji, not to interrupt, but why don't we stay focused, on the goal, which is getting to Urahara's" Rukia cut, "Um, what would make that difficult?" Ichigo asked, as Renji just looked clueless. "Oh, I don't know, maybe hmmmm, him" Sesshomaru said sarcasm dripping off her words as she pointed to Aizen.

The effect off seeing there enemy was instant, Ichigo and Renji reached for there zanpakto, getting into defensive stances. "My, my, aren't we eager to fight" Aizen commented as Ichimaru, and two other arrancars came up behind him. Ichigo growled several choice words, the odds were bad. Rukia also put her hand on her Soul Slayer. "Well, if you don't take on Ichimaru can I have this fight?" Hades asked Ichigo who considered for a moment, "Alright, if I don't get Aizen or Ichimaru" Luck was with Hades, for Ichimaru went for, Renji, and the other two arrancars went for Ichigo and Rukia. Ichigo led the arrancars away from the others and let Hades loose, in both meanings. Even with Hades toying with the arrancars, the fight didn't last long, but it was long enough.

Aizen and Sesshomaru were the only two left not fighting, suddenly Aizen turned his back and took to the skies. With several curses, Sesshomaru followed behind, she knew that despite the fact that people were going to tell her off later for this, she sure wasn't going to let Aizen get away. Aizen landed several blocks away, and Sesshomaru realized instantly that she'd walked through a barrier. "You sense it? Inside of this barrier, none of your little friends will be able to sense you" Aizen turned to her, only slightly mocking. "What the hell do you want?" Sesshomaru asked. "I want you" Aizen looked over the girl, as Grimmjaw had reported; she had an aura of power about her that screamed nobility. "Me, why?" "You really are amazing; you beat Kenpachi without releasing your Soul Slayer, achieved bankai in one night, and have complete control of your hollow powers while in bankai." Sesshomaru and Kelly laughed inwardly at the last one; Aizen was going to have a nasty surprise very soon.

"I'm here to make you a deal, you killed Tousen, and if we were in the Soul Society, you would have taken his place as captain, instead, I offer you his place as general." "No" Sesshomaru's answer was immediate. Aizen raised an eyebrow. "Your right, you don't deserve to answer to anyone, I'll you what, join me, and you'll answer only to yourself, I'll make you a queen, a goddess" Sesshomaru looked at Aizen carefully. "Why the hell are you doing all of this?" Aizen looked at the girl before him, she was smart, with a quick mind, but like Grimmjaw had also noted, he was having issues with keeping his mind on the fight. Sesshomaru was to damn beautiful for her own good. "Because, no one else has the power, and if someone doesn't do something, man kind's evolution will grind to a halt." Sesshomaru looked at the man in front of her, searching for the gleam of insanity in his eyes, none was there, and that chilled her. He actually was sane, and believed everything he was saying.

"How about it?" Aizen asked, "No," "I'm offering you the world" "And I'm refusing, I don't believe in your cause, and I never will." Aizen smirked, "Well, in that case" And thus the fight started. Sesshomaru knew as soon as his sword left it's sheathe she was in deep shit. The two danced around the roof top, engaging and disengaging their blades, each trying to find an opening in the other. Slowly, Aizen realized that, if nothing else, Sesshomaru was at least his equal at swordsmanship.

Meanwhile, as Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia gather, they realize that something is wrong. "Oh fuck, Sesshomaru went after Aizen" Ichigo swore violently at Renji's announcement. "Calm down, we'll just sense her reitsu and find them" Rukia put in, and then the group realized that Sesshomaru's reitsu was nowhere to be found. "This is very very bad" Renji groaned. Captain Kuchiki was going to nail his ass to the wall for this one.

"You are a very talented swordswoman" Aizen told Sesshomaru, as she parried his thrust yet again, the two broke apart circling. "I'd be dead if I wasn't" Sesshomaru replied as she shifted, just enough to conceal her left hand, which was forming a cero blast. Aizen didn't notice, he was entranced by the play of muscle across the exposed parts of her body as they circled. Suddenly, Sesshomaru's hand shot around, letting loose the cero blast, as Aizen was forced to retreat, "Well, well well, we shall continue this later." Aizen told her, as he stepped into a portal. It wasn't just the cero, even Aizen had a limit for control, and he was almost at it.

As soon as she was sure Aizen was gone, Sesshomaru made her way back to the others, who were just on the verge of panic. "Where the hell have you been? No scratch that I don't care, what the hell possessed you to go after Aizen on your own? Are you fucking insane, do you have a death wish?" Renji yelled at her as soon as she landed by the group. "Perhaps we should get to Urahara's they'll be wondering why we're late" Sesshomaru commented as she walked past the three. "Don't change the damn subject" Renji yelled at her, as the three fell into step beside her. Sesshomaru's eye twitched slightly, but other than that she gave no sign of having heard her friend. Renji continued to rave a bit, but finally settled down when he realized that Sesshomaru wasn't listening.

As soon as the group made it to Urahara's, they were bombarded with questions as to what had happened. Sesshomaru didn't say a word, leaving the others to sort stuff out. "What happened?" Byakuya asked Ichigo. "We met up with Aizen, Ichimaru and two arrancars." Instant silence fell; Aizen had come to the real world. "The two arrancars are dead, but Ichimaru and Aizen got away" Suddenly Sesshomaru's lips curved into a smile at Renji's statement. "Um Sesshomaru, why are you smiling?" Orihime asked. "Because the blockhead doesn't actually have anything to support part of what he just said." Renji looked at her with an exasperated look. "Alright, the two arrancars are dead and Ichimaru got away." "What about Aizen?" Matsumoto asked. "He decided to with draw In favor of assessing the situation better because of underestimating his opponent's strength." Sesshomaru replied, much to everyone's surprise. Byakuya turned toward Renji with an evil look on his face, "Why does Sesshomaru know that, and you don't?" Renji turned very pale, but Ichigo stepped in between. "While Renji was fighting Ichimaru, and Rukia and I were busy with the other two arrancars, Sesshomaru took it into her head to go after Aizen alone. I think that was part of his plan, none of the others so much as glanced at Sesshomaru, so I think that Aizen was trying to get her alone. It's not really anyone's fault but Sesshomaru for leaving us" Ichigo had easily deflected Byakuya's anger, and Renji noted the new ease between the two men.

Durning the last part of this, Sesshomaru had simply stared off into space. "So, what did Aizen want?" Hitsiguya asked impatiently. "Nothing important, he just wanted to kill me, I guess he thought that since I'd killed Tousen he should pay a personal visit, or at least a semblance of a personal visit." "What do you mean semblance?" Yorichi asked, "It could have been an illusion" "Why would he do that? He gains nothing" Urahara told Sesshomaru and the others nodded. Sesshomaru just rolled her eyes. There has go tto be more to this than simply what you've said, tonight won't help him in the war." Ikkaku asked no one in particular. As the others continued on the train of thought Sesshomaru shook her head at there stupidity.

"Would you please all stop thinking like fighters for a minute and think like a plotter" she interrupted suddenly, patience at an end. "If he uses an illusion to fight me, he gains two things, one I am now susceptible to his stupid sword, and so is anyone else who saw him, and two, he gets to see my strength against the illusion without actually taking any damage. His zanpakto has a very good use, it creates weaknesses in enemies who would not otherwise be vulnerable. Putting his enemies automatically at a disadvantage. The whole getting to see my ability plan has several holes in it, but that's beside the point, as he didn't use an illusion. Now, lets all mull over that and realize that this nights wok did Aizen a lot of good, but it left him exposed."

Byakuya was the first to fully process everything Sesshomaru said, and he was a little floored by the fact that she could so quickly deduce the possibilities and counter attacks of an opponents move. "Exactly how does this leave him exposed?" Urahara asked bleakly, bleack being the eneral mood. "Well, for one, now I know what he looks like, and I have his reitsu pattern in my head", 'and his scent'Sesshomaru added the last part silently. "Knowing what he looks like, I'll be able to recognize him more easily, he also inadvertently gave me some knowledge he didn't mean to." Raised eyebrows and puzzled looks came from all around. "Well, what should we do?" Hitsiguya asked, yes he wasn't above asking. Sesshomaru's eyes seemed to lose her focus and she muttered, "Yes, what do we do?" Slowly the girl rocked back and forth, eyes remaining glazed, lips moving soundlessly, as she began to go through the thousands of possibilities.

Renji, Ichigo and Bakuya watched the girl in amazment. "Um, is this normal?" Renji asked, and the toher two shook their heads. Yorichi looked at Urahara, "She looks a lot like you" Urahara nodded absently, indeed, she did, and from personal experience, he was willing to bet that the young woman in front of them would come up with something that would eventyually be a nasty surprise for Aizen. Ikkaku looked at Yumichika, who looked at Sesshomaru, in complete rapture, "What are you looking at?" "see how beautiful she is as she thinks up the way to save all of us" Ikkaku shook his head in disgust, and began to imagine fights in his head.

Suddenly an evil grin spread over Sesshomaru's face, and the rocking stopped. "Figure something out?" Renji asked. "Yep, as opposed to waiting for Aizen to make his move, we should make ours. Either way, the odds are towards Aizen, but in an offensive position, we have a better chance of succeeding than just sitting here. For now what we need to do is get permission from Soul Society to have all the limiters released all the time. Taking them off takes to long. We also need permission to move outside of Soul Society's control, but with their support, because, I think that some of the experiments I'd like Urahara to work on might piss them off. Do you think that can be arranged?" Sesshomaru asked the group at large.

"Yes, I will speak to the commander general about your proposals, tonight" Byakuya told her. "Good" suddenly, Sesshomaru seemed to realize that she'd just taken ommand, without anyone saying anything. Urahara read that in her face, and smiled behind his fan. "Well, it seems that you have a commanding personaliy, Sesshomaru" said person looked down, "Yeah, sorry about that, its up to you to" Byakuya cut the girl off, "You've got a plan, which is more than anyone else in here can say, its your plane you lead" Sesshomaru's eyes swept the room, and everyone was nodding. An old memory cam eback to her.

"_Kelly, did you really get your cousins to dye your brothers hair?" the gentle voice asked, and Kelly smiled up at the man, eyes wide in mock innocence. "Father, what makes you say that, my dear cousins are all older than me, surely they wouldn't follow my orders" The man laughed and put the girl on his knee. "Ah well, you're good at getting people to follow you, leadership is a good skill, use it well"_

'I will, Father' Sesshomaru looked at each person in the room, "Alright, Bykuya and Hitsiusuya, when you report tonight, would you please put foth my requests" At the nodd from the two she went on, "Ikkaku, Yumichika, you two train with Urahara, and Yorichi, Matsumoto, I'd like to talk to you tomorrow, if I may" the five nodded, and Sesshomaru turned to Ichigo, Rukia and Renji. "I'll tlak to you later" she told them. Everyone nodded and disbanded.

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**I sorta like writing Ichi/Hades, maybe I add a little of that, Ichigo still goes with Rukia, but a little side deal never hurt, hmmm, well see what the reviewers think.**


	3. Long talks

**Yeah, Another chappie finished, shorter than the others, but there is a thing called writers block, sighs oh well, thank you to my reviewer, and now on with the story**

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On the way back to the clinic, everyone was silent, each thinking their own thoughts. Sesshomaru was thinking over her decision to keep Aizen's proposal a secret. She knew that would probably come back to bight her on the ass, but hopefully by that time, everyone would trust her more. 'They already trust you, I mean seriously, Byakuya just put you in command, and lets see um, that command has three captains or former captains, and at least two other people on captain level. They are all putting their faith in your plan, which you haven't told them' thus did Kelly make her opinion known. Sesshomaru mentally sighed.

Ichigo was having a lovely little talk with Hades. 'You know she wasn't telling the full truth' 'No shit, no way Aizen just wanted to kill her, and how the hell did she know it wasn't an illusion?' Ichigo asked his hollow, not like he would have an answer. 'Search me' 'Perhaps she can see through Aizen's illusions' Zangetsu's voice echoed in Ichigo's head. 'Didn't Aizen say that was impossible?' Ichigo asked. 'Yes, but Unohoha managed to see through the illusion, at least partly, maybe Sesshomaru can as well.' Ichigo had to concede that what Zangetsu said made sense. 'Your thinking to much, wait until she tells you what she wants us to do for the little plan, I can't wait to see' With Hades last remark hanging in the air, Ichigo pulled himself back to reality as they all arrived back home.

In Sesshomaru's room, the group of four looked at each other. "Ichigo, I don't know how much Soul Society knows, but I figured that if they didn't know already I wasn't going to tell them, but at least Renji and Rukia need to know about your hollow. The reactions in the room would have been down right hilarious at any other time. "Hollow?" Renji sputtered/choked/yelled, Rukia was calmer, she'd already known, but inside Ichigo's head was a whole different story. 'Holy fucking shit, how the hell did she know about me?!' Hades yelled. 'How should I know' Ichigo yelled right back, as he tried, unsuccessfully, to keep a straight face.

Letting the three settle down a bit, Sesshomaru looked Ichigo in the eye, "I'm gonna take a stab in the dark here, but your hollow is probably freaking over the fact that I know, and you are all probably wondering how I know" Nods all around, "Well it was simple there were some hints in your reitsu, but I wasn't sure until tonight, when you let you hollow fight that arrancars. I noticed it chasing after Aizen." Ichigo nodded, and Sesshomaru turned to Renji, who was an interesting shade of puce. "When Ichigo got his shinigami powers back, a hollow awoke in him," Renji nodded, ingesting the information.

Turning back to Ichigo Sesshomaru asked, "Does you hollow have a name, and can I talk to him?" "Yes I have a name, its Hades" So saying, Hades appeared beside Ichigo on the bed, causing everyone but Sesshomaru to jump three feet in the air. "How long have you been able to do that?" Ichigo yelled. "Just a few minutes ago, Zangetsu helped, and I can't get to far away from you" Ichigo nodded and turned back to the others in the room. Renji and Rukia were trying to get used to seeing the bleached version of Ichigo. "Umm, this is my hollow, Hades" Ichigo said into the silence, voice a little uncertain. 'How do you introduce your inner hollow to your best friends?' Ichigo thought. "Err, pleased to meet you" Rukia addressed the hollow, who returned the pleasantries. "You would be Rukia, and that's Renji right?" Hades looked to Ichigo for conformation, and he nodded.

"Alrighty then, one thing down, lets move on, I'm assuming that since Hades can materialize and you let him fight a battle you two are working together?" The two nodded. "Good, If you two would continue training together, that would be great, also Hades, if you don't mind, please spar with Rukia and Renji" Hades raised an eyebrow. "Ah, you want them to be prepared, facing hollows that have human forms might make thing harder" Sesshomaru nodded, "That and you and the arrancars share similarities in powers," The three others in the room nodded in understanding.

Sesshomaru then turned to Rukia and Renji, "I know that Renji is here as my guard, and I am not as thick as Byakuya thinks I am, so I know that part of the reason you're here is to guard me, and keep me from doing something stupid, like attacking Hueco Mundo on my own." Rukia nodded. Renji coughed, "Would you really do that?" Sesshomaru just looked at him. "You Kurosaki's are the most insane, stubborn, reckless, and down right stupid of all the people I know" Sesshomaru and Ichigo smirked, "It runs in the family" Rukia and Renji rolled their eyes. Hades just snickered, "If you don't need me, I'll return to Ichigo's inner world" Sesshomaru nodded, and Hades disappeared. "Alright, time to turn in!" Rukia laughed at Ichigo's announcement, and the two left for his room, where Rukia established herself in the closet. Renji also went into his closet, knowing full well he wouldn't sleep, and wondering about all the questions Sesshomaru had left unanswered.

Hitsiguya and Byakuya were at that particular moment, speaking with general, Yamamoto, and all the other captains, who had gathered, including one very pissed Kenpachi. "You were late reporting, did something happen?" Hitsiguya looked at Byakuya who took that as his cue. "Aizen, Ichimaru, and two arrancars attacked Sesshomaru, Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia. The four are unhurt, and the two arrancar's have been killed, Aizen, and Ichimaru got away, though" Silence followed his announcement as the captains all processed what had occurred. "I see, anything else?" This time, Hitsiguya responded to the general's question. He relayed Sesshomaru's requests. The general was silent for a while, pondering as the captains began to talk. "I like Sesshomaru's idea, finally some one who has the guts to do things right" Kenpachi exclaimed, as Ukitake questioned Byakuya, "Is it really a good idea to just trust Sesshomaru? She's smart, and a good fighter, but she is thirteen." "I trust her" was Byakuya's simple reply. At about that point, Yamamoto banged his cane on the floor, and attention shifted to him.

"I agree to Sesshomaru's requests. Tomorrow the limiters will be released, and she has permission to work outside of my control. Please let her know that if she needs anything from Soul Society, she need only ask." The two captains bowed, and the audience terminated. "So Yama-jii has decided to trust this girl" Shunsuie muttered more to himself than Ukitake. "Yes, although I see the wisdom in her idea, I'm still worried, Sesshomaru is a child" Ukitake's brow was pulled together as he frowned, "Lighten up, this kid knows what she's doing" his friend said, throwing an arm around Ukitake, and the two captains walked off.

Sesshomaru and Renji spent a sleepless night, worry plagued Renji he wanted to go out and do something, but until other orders were given, he wasn't moving. Sesshomaru was simply thinking about old times, and running through the plan in her head, something Renji had said came back to her, "You Kurosaki's are the most insane, stubborn, reckless, and down right stupid of all the people I know" A bitter smile flitted over Sesshomaru's lips, 'You have no idea how appealing it sounds to simply take care of this myself'

In Ichigo's room however, things were very different, Rukia was sleeping peacefully, and Ichigo and Hades were having a quick training session. "Ya know, that girl, Sesshomaru, she really is something." Ichigo looked over at his hollow counterpart with a raised eyebrow, "How many thirteen year old girls could even pick up the subtle difference in your reitsu for having a hollow, and how many could create a battle plan? Add all of that to the fact that when she gets into her fight, her posture is enough different that she practically screams nobility, and you do not get a normal child." Ichigo nodded, he couldn't argue with any of that. "I can see why Renji's falling for her" at the last comment, Ichigo jumped three feet in the air and sputtered/choked out, "Falling for her?" "You didn't notice, Renji's falling for her, as bad as your falling for Rukia"

The next day, Sesshomaru met up with Matsumoto, and the two went for a walk in the park. "So what did you want to talk about?" the bubbly woman asked. Sesshomaru sighed and looked up into the trees, "Childhood friends, yours in particularly" Matsumoto sobered, she knew where this was going. "I'm sorry, I have a pretty good idea this ain't your most favorite subject, but I need to know more about Gin" Matsumoto nodded, and looked off into the distance. "We met when I was still new to Soul Society, when I was starving, he gave me some food, and we were friends ever since" the woman told Sesshomaru everything about Gin she knew, and recounted all of their history together. It was a subject Matsumoto had been avoiding since that day, knowing it would hurt like hell, but amazingly, it didn't hurt as bad as it should, and Matsumoto suspected it had something to do with the young woman walking beside her. Something about Sesshomaru kept her talking, and kept the pain dull and distant. "Thank you, this is a help, I'm sorry to have to bring it up" Sesshomaru looked over at the other woman, it was dusk, the two had been talking all day. Matsumoto nodded, "I understand, and the story really needed to be told, because so many will only think of him as the man who betrayed Soul Society, not the man who was such a good friend" The last five words were broken by sobs, as the tears that Matsumoto had held in check since that day came running down her cheeks.

Slowly her knees gave way, but two small arms came around her as she neared the pavement, "Its okay, you will always remember him as you have, and he'll always be that man for you" Sesshomaru whispered in her ear, trying to comfort the older woman. In truth, though there were some similarities, Sesshomaru had no idea how to help. Finally Matsumoto's tears ran dry and the two stood up. "Thank you" the vice- captain whispered and Sesshomaru turned puzzled eyes on her, "For what?" "For simply being there to hold me as I cried." Sesshomaru smiled softly, "Every one's knees buckle at some point, we just need some one else to carry the weight for a while, then we're back on our feet, ready to face the world" With that, the young shinigami turned, put her hands in her pockets, and walked away. Matsumoto watched as she seemed to simply melt into the night. "You really are something else" she whispered, before heading back to Orihime's.

Slowly Sesshomaru walked home, thinking about nothing in particular. Later she would carefully go through all the info Matsumoto had given her, catalogue it, and use it to find Ichimaru's weakness. But for now, she didn't want to think on it. She didn't really want to go home either, so she let her footsteps lead her away from the clinic. When she stopped walking, she found herself at the river bank. "My mom died here" the thought didn't hurt as it should have, like all things emotionally painful, her subconscious immediately dealt with them, freezing away her emotions, so she couldn't feel the pain and sadness that thought should have caused, only a small measure of anger, that she had never known her true mother.

Sesshomaru walked along the river bank, keeping her guard up, but more relaxed than she had been in weeks. Finally, she noticed that it had been dark for a while, and she headed home, to begin working through the information on Ichimaru's past.

When Sesshomaru hadn't returned by dusk, Ichigo, Rukia and Renji weren't worried, she was with Matsumoto, and so Renji crawled into the closet alone. Several hours later, Sesshomaru returned, to find a slightly annoyed Renji, and a silent house. "You took your time coming back" Sesshomaru nodded, "Sorry; you should have gone to bed." Renji shrugged, "Ain't been sleeping lately anyway" Sesshomaru nodded again, and went over to her desk, turned on the lamp, grabbed an interesting device, and sat down. "What're ya doing?" Renji asked confused. "I learned some stuff, and I need to sort through it and see how I can use it. Night is a good time for me to do this, so unless the light bothers you, don't complain" Renji nodded, and sat down on Sesshomaru's bed. The girl grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and stuck the earphones of her I-pod in her ear. Slowly, she turned the thing on shuffle, and smiled at the first song. It was Paralyzer by finger eleven. Sesshomaru wrote down everything Matsumoto told her and began to reread it. Renji sat and watched Sesshomaru work.

Around four A.M. Sesshomaru sat back from the desk, took the earphones out of her ear, and sighed. Renji looked up, "Done?" "Yeah, it really is amazing, how close the two were, and how much this had to have hurt Matsumoto" Renji nodded, and Sesshomaru smiled at him, "But I guess all shinigami are like that, tough as a rock"

Matsumoto had gone straight back to Orihime's to be met by her captain. "You okay?" Hitsiguya asked, and Matsumoto nodded, "Sesshomaru wanted to know about Gin" she replied to his unasked question, and Hitsiguya nodded. "What did Yamamoto have to say?" "He granted Sesshomaru her requests, so your limiter was probably removed during your talk." Matsumoto nodded, and went into her room, got ready for bed, and curled up in a tight ball. As she had expected, now that she wasn't close to Sesshomaru any more the pain was worse, but remnants of Sesshomaru's magic must still have been working, because the pain still wasn't as bad as it could have been, and eventually Matsumoto slept.

The next day, Byakuya decided to stop by the Kurosaki clinic to inform Sesshomaru of Yamamoto's decision. Upon entering Sesshomaru's bedroom, he was met with the four shinigamis in the house having a meeting. He had the feeling that someone else had been there, but brushed it off. "Damn that was close, why the hell is he here anyway?" Hades yelled inside of Ichigo who mentally shrugged and began paying attention. "I'm going to assume there is a reason you decided to climb through my window?" Sesshomaru asked Byakuya who nodded, "The commander general has decided to grant your request, all limiters were removed yesterday, and you have permission to do as you choose, he says to tell you that if you need anything, you need only ask." Sesshomaru smiled, "Give the commander my thanks. Was that all?" Byakuya nodded and exited, again through the window. As soon as he was gone, Hades appeared. "That was to close" Rukia said, and Renji nodded, "Well, what's done is done, and since I know have the power to do as I choose, we can start moving ahead with those experiments."

The three others in the room nodded, "Why don't we relocate to Urahara's, Hades, Ichigo, would you mind if we told Urahara, there are some things I want to test?" Hades and Ichigo looked at each other. "Sure, why not. And yes we will participate in any ad all tests you dream up, this is your show, we're just here to follow orders." Hades told Sesshomaru, staving off her next two questions. Sesshomaru nodded, and the group relocated to Urahara's.

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**Alrighty then, push the pretty purple button and review ;)**


	4. Let the madness begin

I live

**I live!! Now, I know you all missed me, and first things first I have an announcement:**

**I LOVE I love shiro-chan thankyou, because of you I am updating all seven pages! Sorry about the random ending.**

The energetic shop owner met them at the door, "Sesshomaru, I assume Byakuya's told you about the commander general's orders?" At Sesshomaru's nod Urahara continued on, "I assume you are here about the tests you mentioned?" "Indeed, but first, I was wondering if you know about the consequences of your method for Ichigo to regain his powers?" Urahara stopped dead, and thought for a minute, "I'm assuming you mean besides the fact that Ichigo got his powers back?" Sesshomaru's glare screamed, 'No shit Sherlock' and Urahara moved on, "No not really, I have some ideas but," "Man this guy really is stupid" Hades said, appearing behind Ichigo. Urahara jumped three feet in the air, as Yorichi came around the corner, yelling about a hollow. "I would have to agree, though I'm sure we're just not catching him at his best" Sesshomaru replied to the hollow. Once Yorichi grasped that they were not in any danger, Urahara turned to Hades, "You must be Ichigo's hollow, I had an idea that that might have happened, but wasn't sure, as Kurosaki had never shown any signs of being a vizard." Hades and Ichigo rolled their eyes, "Well no duh," Sesshomaru told him, "Anyway Hades, Ichigo, Rukia and Renji, could ya'll go downstairs and spar?" The four nodded and walked off, leaving Sesshomaru alone with Urahara and Yorichi.

Urahara took the two into his lab, where they could talk without interruptions. "You do realize that attacking Hueco Mundo falls just short of suicide when we have Soul Society backing us up right?" Urahara asked, "Yep, however, I figured I'd get told off if I went in alone, so I'm dragging ya'll with me." Urahara and Yorichi shared a look, "Alone?" "Yes, alone, if I thought it was the best plan, I'd beat the hell outta Aizen alone, its how I was raised. Instead I have a plan that will get us all in and out of there alive, mostly." Urahara and Yorichi nodded. "What sorta tests do you want?"

Hades was currently sparring with Rukia, and Ichigo with Renji. The two young men were both in bankai, but Ichigo's mind kept going over what his hollow had mentioned the other night. 'Is Renji really falling for her? Damn him, if he hurts her I'll rip his heart out.' 'Getting a little possessive for someone you just met, eh king' Hades decided to put in, but Ichigo chose to ignore him, in favor of kicking Renji's ass.

Hades was trying to go easy on Rukia; she had her zanpakto released, but was still easy to beat. Hades was trying to restrain himself from going all out, and Ichigo was keeping an eye on him, just in case his control slipped.

Urahara and Yorichi looked at the young woman in front of them in mild shock. "You aren't serious, Hades will never agree to it" Urahara finally spoke, "Yes he will, and Soul Society won't squeal about it, so the only people left to convince are you two." Sesshomaru replied calmly. She knew that her idea was radical at best, but it was better than going into Hueco Mundo alone, or with the group as it was now. Yorichi was silent studying the girl in front of her, it had always been obvious that Sesshomaru was more or less Aizen's equal as far as planning dangerous schemes, and there had never been any doubt in Yorichi's head that she was not going to like the way things were going to happen, but this was completely unexpected. "You do realize that it is likely that I will get absolutely nothing worth using made by the time you head for Hueco Mundo?" Urahara pointed out to the girl in front of him. "This kind of research takes years, not a month." A cold smirk wormed its way onto Sesshomaru's face, "That's what Aizen thinks to, but what neither of you know is I have information that will speed the process up to a point, that if we stretch it, we can make this happen in one week, two at the most."

Urahara was having issues with believing his ears, Sesshomaru wanted to have him create a stone with properties that would negate the hogyuku. It had taken him ten years to create the hogyuku in the first place, and she says she can help him create the opposite in one week? "How? It took me ten years to create the hogyuku, how on earth do you propose to create the opposite in one week, even using your and Ichigo's powers?" "Its simple, I have the other jewel melded into Shiane, which gave me insight into its make-up, insight which even you, its creator don't have. I can use that insight, and other information, which I will mostly keep the history of to myself, to meld Ichigo's Hades' and my powers into a jewel that should reverse the affects of the hogyuku." Urahara and Yorichi looked at each other, then at the girl in whose hands they were about to put there lives. "Alright, we're right behind you" Sesshomaru nodded, and mentally sighed, 'Thank god, I don't ever want to do that again.' _What else did you expect?_ Sesshomaru sat bolt upright in her chair at the sound of that voice, and quietly excused herself.

Sesshomaru quickly made it to the front of the shop, where she leaned against the wall. 'What the hell are you doing back, weren't you sealed?" she demanded, _Yes, but the seal is weakening. And you should get used to doing stuff like that; you were after all born to it._ 'Maybe I once was, but unless you haven't noticed, my entire destiny's been changed" _You cannot change what you are, and no matter how much you seal me, I'll always be here, you can no more get rid of me than you can change the way you were raised._ If there was one thing she did not want to be reminded of, it was her past, so Sesshomaru growled, "Shut Up" to the air and went back to the training grounds, only adding, "Regardless, I need to stay here and now, and not have the past intrude.' Silence was her only answer.

When she entered the training grounds, Rukia, Hades, Renji and Ichigo were taking a quick brake. "Yo," Ichigo called upon seeing her. "What's up?" Sesshomaru asked as she came up to the group. "Nothing much, you convince Urahara yet?" Sesshomaru nodded, "Yep, any body have any idea were I can find a sparring partner?" 'You could always fight me' Kelly put in, but Sesshomaru ignored her. "Byakuya should be back soon, and we can rotate around so that you can spar with Hades." Ichigo stated, and Sesshomaru nodded. Again Renji noted the difference in the way Ichigo said Byakuya's name. "So were did fluffy go?" He asked, and as usual Rukia choked. "He went to report to Soul Society with Toshiro" "That's Hitsiguya- taicho to you" Ichigo looked up as Hitsiguya's voice floated over to the group. Sure enough both captains were walking over to them. "Whatever, so what did the commander have to say?" "Not much, just a reminder to keep him posted on our moves against Hueco Mundo, Soul Society really doesn't want to suddenly find out that we already took Hueco Mundo without telling them." Byakuya replied to Ichigo's question. Ichigo nodded, and met the captain's eyes. The two stood up and moved about a mile away from the rest of the group in one step.

They both settled into a fighting stance, this was their ritual. Beat the hell out of each other, then comment on each others moves. The two tensed, then lunged and met with a crash. A mile away, the rest of the group shrugged it off, and separated into sparring groups. Hades against Sesshomaru, Renji against Rukia, and Hitsiguya waiting his turn; for several hours the only sounds to disturb the training area were blades clashing and swearing.

During one of the breaks during which they reviewed the fight, Ichigo and Byakuya got to talking over Sesshomaru's strategy. "It's a brilliant plan, if we can all pull it off, it will completely unbalance Aizen" Ichigo commented, "Yes, but the key words are if we can pull it off. Meaning if the rest of us are strong enough to survive" "Yeah, but I have faith, its weird, we've known Sesshomaru for a little over a month, and we're already trusting her to lead the war against Aizen." Byakuya nodded, "There is something about her, her faith in her side, and her ability to always seem to be in control of the situation draws people to follow her." Ichigo agreed to that, "It was sorta weird the first couple of days, realizing that I had another sister, one I'd never even known about, and finding myself as or more protective of her than my other two that I've known all their lives." Byakuya nodded, "That's another thing about her, despite your absolute faith in her, you just can't help be protective of her." Ichigo nodded and looked over where he could just see Sesshomaru sparring with Hitsiguya, in her eyes was a fierce joy. "Its always interesting to watch her fight, it's the way she takes pride in fighting, without the ugly joy at killing that people like Kenpachi have." "Yes, it really is amazing, how fast she trained, now she is one of the most powerful shinigami's out there" Byakuya commented and Ichigo smirked, "Despite the fact that she will argue that point to hell and back." Byakuya laughed, and the two got back to fighting.

Renji was fighting Rukia as Hades rested, watching Sesshomaru spar, just like his living half. And also like his living half, he saw the joy in her eyes and smirked softly; she had gone from sparring him to sparring Hitsiguya without a break and was still kicking the captain's ass. Just then he felt a weird pulse come from the girl, and she stumbled, Hoyinmaru slicing through her arm. Hades frowned, but before anything else could happen, Sesshomaru regained her footing, Shiane nipping up to slice across Hitsiguya's chest. The short captain fell back panting, "Well, that was fun, but your tired, Hades you ready for another go?" Sesshomaru commented, "You, are, not, normal" Hitsiguya said, panting between words. Sesshomaru smiled blandly at him and replied, "Neither is any one else her Toshiro, if you ain't noticed, your dead, the majority of the people here are" Hitsiguya growled "Its Hitsiguya-taicho" before moving away to rest and heal as Sesshomaru and Hades tore each other up.

As Sesshomaru prepared to block the short captains slice towards her arm, she felt the voice more than heard, _Look who's back from the dead princess, soon you will be mine _she stumbled, and felt Hoyinmaruslice her arm, she quickly regained her footing and put the captain out of the fight. Fighting Hades mostly on instinct, momentarily forgetting that her blade was reversed, she tried to reorder her thoughts, "First she comes back, now he's found out about me still being alive, what the hell is going on, I so don't need this shit right now" she thought, seconds later she became aware of the voice calling her name.

Ichigo looked over at Sesshomaru when he felt his hollow's worry, in time to see her start to fight Hades. Unfortunately, she was fighting on instinct, and Ichigo's jaw dropped, along with everyone else's jaws. If her sword wasn't reversed, Hades would be dead, "Where the hell did she learn that?" Byakuya muttered. Sesshomaru's eyes were glazed over as she thought, and her swordsmanship was up by several thousand times, she was pulling moves that even Byakuya wasn't sure he could pull off if he had started learning them when he first enrolled at the academy, meaning with centuries of practice. "I don't know, but we need to snap her back to reality before Hades killed." Ichigo muttered. Apparently Hitsiguya had also thought of that as he was yelling Sesshomaru's name. The girl stopped and shook her head softly then looked around.

Sesshomaru realized that she had been using moves she'd been taught as a child, not what Renji and Byakuya had taught her, consequently, Hades was pretty badly torn up, 'Shit, note to self pay attention during fights' she screamed to herself in her mind, and promptly heard the laughter she hated most, _Told you, you can't change the way you were raised, why don't you just accept yourself, and me?_ 'Not a snowballs chance in hell' "Sorry about that, guess I wasn't thinking" Sesshomaru replied to the shocked looks of her companions while scratching the back of her head. Hades eye twitched, "Hitsiguya was right, you are not normal, even for one of us" opinion made known, he promptly lost consciousness. Worried, Sesshomaru knelt down beside Hades as Ichigo came up, seeing the worry on the younger girl's face he tried to reassure her, "Its not to bad, he's mostly just exhausted, it will be fine, and that was awesome swordsmanship." Sesshomaru realized what he was trying to do, so in turn she tried to muster up a convincing smile, but it came out like a grimace. "Yeah, I learned that when I was young" Ichigo nodded, and called Hades back to his inner world where the hollow could heal. Sesshomaru stood up, "I'm going to go for a walk" she announced, and everyone nodded. As she passed Renji and Rukia, Renji reached out and touched her shoulder, "Don't feel bad, we all knew you had more training, besides, it just means you can take care of yourself' Sesshomaru nodded, and walked out of the Urahara shop. 

Thousands of miles away, in Arizona, two young men were getting out of a car in front of the local high school. "Kevin," the younger of the two looked up as a group of people came up to him. "Yo, what's going on?" he replied, "Nothing, the perv here has been trying to suck up to the principle" a girl replied. "Still haven't learned Tanner?" the elder boy asked. The younger male this was addressed to tried to go for dignity, "I'll have you know that introducing yourself and trying to make a good first impression is not bad" Another of the girls poked him, ruining the image, "Yeah, but flirting with the principle is" "Come on Cat," Tanner wined. As Cat and Tanner went off into an argument, the two original boys suddenly looked up, as a wave of hurt brushed against their consciousness. The elder stiffened, and Kevin's eyes widened, "She's alive?" he whispered, just barely loud enough for Cat to pick up. "Who is, hello, earth to Kevin and Jo?" Jo turned his level gaze on the girl, "It is none of your concern.' Cat pouted, but Jo had already turned to Kevin, "I'll go tell father, you stay" and for the first time that anyone in that school had known him, Kevin simply took his older brother's directions.

"Dude, you two are acting weird, even for a demon and half-demon" Cat remarked to Kevin, cool as if she was remarking on the weather. "Yeah, well you should be used to it by now" Kevin replied, "Still," "Just shut up about it" Kevin interrupted Tanner who muttered to the one girl who had been silent throughout the exchange, "My dearest, Sam, any ideas on our friend's weird behavior?" Sam just shook her head, and the group of friends moved toward the high school. Cat shot a worried look toward Kevin as they walked into the school. When their first period teacher checked roll to find Jo missing, everyone received the second shock of the day as Kevin stood, "He's taking care of a family issue, and he should be back soon"

Jo stopped outside of his father's study. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes, "Kelly, how the hell are you still alive? Please be okay, I can't bear to lose you again." Sighing in a rare display of emotion, Jo knocked, "Come on in Jo." Inside the study, Jo studied his father, "What is it son?" "She's alive" the affect on the old man was immediate, "Are you sure" Jo nodded, "Oh my god, what the hell are we going to do, if you found out about her she won't be able to stay hidden much longer, and the seal, it will be old by now, and with her power, could slip" Jo shook his head, "We are going to have to try and find her, Kevin and I just felt her, she could be anywhere" The old man nodded, "So I will get to see her again before I die."

Sesshomaru once again found herself wandering by the river. 'Why now, why, I can't go back to the life I once lived.' Sesshomaru's thought swum round and round. Eventually she noticed that the light had gone. 'Night, time to hunt' At that thought, Sesshomaru shook her head vigorously and headed back to the clinic. Renji was waiting, "Hey" Sesshomaru nodded, "Well aren't you the talkative one" Sesshomaru shrugged. "Hey, about what happened earlier, every one of us in there has a past, and its obvious you don't want to bring up yours, and that's cool, but remember no one in there will blame you or judge you if you have survival tricks that ain't the norm, we all do probably." Sesshomaru nodded, digesting that, "Yeah, okay, but still, I should have paid attention" thus ending the conversation. Renji sighed, Sesshomaru was obviously blaming herself for something, though he couldn't imagine what, it wasn't like tearing people up in training was new to her, so what made that fight different? Sitting in her closet, Renji realized that Sesshomaru hadn't been sleeping either and sighed again, she was just a kid, but in one day, her entire world had been changed, irreversibly.

Sesshomaru looked out the window of her room, "What will I do if he attacks?" she asked herself. "Yo, king its rainin' in here" Kelly shouted in Sesshomaru's mind. "Sorry" Sesshomaru replied, and Kelly huffed, but it stopped raining. Sesshomaru continued looking out the window, staring at the half moon.

The next day, Ichigo and Sesshomaru walked over to Urahara to begin the creation of the jewel. "Okay, so how does this work?' Ichigo asked. "You, me and Hades take turns putting our power into the containers that Urahara has prepared, we'll end up with quite a bit of spirit power in the end, but for now, we won't put to much in, I don't want to weaken one of our best fighters, and we have time." Ichigo nodded and Sesshomaru went back to what she was doing, which was drawing a circle in the sand. After she'd finished Hades appeared, and Sesshomaru turned to Urahara, "Okay, put the container in the middle of the circle, then get about five feet away" Urahara did as he was told, and Hades and Ichigo joined Sesshomaru in standing around the circle.

"Just concentrate on drawing your energy; I'll put the amount needed in the vessel." Sesshomaru told the other two, who nodded and began to draw on their power. Sesshomaru nodded to herself and began to push the energy into the container. Five minutes later she called a halt. "Hey, we can spare more energy" Ichigo told Sesshomaru, "I know that, but the containers almost full, and all three of our energy's need to be in each one." Ichigo nodded, and Sesshomaru smiled reassuringly, then closed her eyes, "Hey, Kelly, you know the drill" she called silently, as Kelly gathered her power, Sesshomaru went deeper, "if you say one word I will make your life miserable" she threatened, a soft laugh was her answer, as she pulled on her power. Ichigo's eyes widened as immense power shot out of Sesshomaru in controlled waves, he watched in surprise as they settled into the jar like thing in the center of the circle. A few minutes later, the power stopped coming and Sesshomaru opened her eyes.

"That's enough for now, later today we can collect more, Urahara, please store the container for now and prep the next one, we'll need it in one and a half hours." Urahara nodded to Sesshomaru and took the container away as Sesshomaru turned to Ichigo and Hades, "You two don't spar, you may not realize it, but you gave a lot of energy, and if I'm going to take more in an hour, you can't waste any energy on a senseless spar." The two nodded, and Hades slipped into Ichigo's mind.

"Yo" the two turned to see Renji coming towards them. "Hey" Sesshomaru called, "you get done with the experiments?' Renji asked and Ichigo snorted, "For now" Sesshomaru replied, with a frown toward Ichigo. "So what now?" "We wait for time to pass Renji you should probably find the rest of the gang and get then here training, they won't disturb the experiments, and we'll need them in top shape." Renji nodded and Sesshomaru smiled at Ichigo, "I know you and Hades want to fight, but how about you help by giving your friends tips, that way you'll be doing something that doesn't involve you losing power." Ichigo nodded and walked toward the ladder to help Renji round up the gang.

Sesshomaru watched the gang practice, and sighed, Ichigo was obviously just barely containing himself from jumping in and sparing, but on the good side, it was time to start again. "Yo Ichigo, time" she called and Ichigo was next to her immediately. "Same deal?" Hades asked, reappearing beside Ichigo. Sesshomaru nodded, but this time, she joined her energy with Ichigo's and Hades'. In five minutes the container was filled. "That's all for today, wait an hour before you spar 'kay" Ichigo and Hades nodded, and went to rejoin the others. Sesshomaru watched them go, "_Why do you bother, you are strong you could easily take care of this on your own"_ Sesshomaru let out a raged breath at the sound of that hated voice. Suddenly two hands were on her shoulders, "You okay?" Renji's voice whispered in her ear, and Sesshomaru nodded, "Yeah, just having issues with the voices in my head." Renji laughed softly, "You want to spar?" "No, I'll just watch, you should go, I don't need a babysitter, if anything happens you guys'll one step away from me, and I think I can hold out for at least that long." Renji shot Sesshomaru a smile and went to join the others, Sesshomaru watched, thinking of past times that she could never recreate.

Renji went over to where the rest of the group was waiting, but he watched Sesshomaru from the corner of his eye. Ichigo caught him at it. "Am I the only one who thinks some things wrong?" He asked, and Renji shook his head, "I don't know what's wrong with her, but she ain't been sleeping." Everyone shook their heads, "She's only 13, she shouldn't be in this mess, much less have everyone's hopes riding on her." Rukia stated softly. "I think she's trying to repress something in her past." Ichigo murmured and every one looked at him in shock. "Um, Ichigo, when did you get smart?' Byakuya asked. Ichigo huffed and crossed his arms, "Always have been, you guys just didn't listen"


End file.
